The Age of Emeralds
by Sonic Rose
Summary: The Chaos Emeralds are about to shatter, and Sonic has to save the day once more! This story encompasses almost all Characters in Sonic's universe. Based on SA and SatAM, please enjoy the battle royal! K for fantasy violence.
1. Prologue

**The Age of Emeralds**

**Prologue**

Author Notes: Sonic and co. are © of SEGA™, while Sally, Antoine, Bunnie, Mina etc are © of Archie Comic Publications™. Crystal-Ka and Dirk are fan characters; property of moi™.

* * *

Robotropolis - a foreboding city ruled by a tyrannical dictator. It's tall ebony spires and charcoal streets are a dim reflection of what it once was. The Dark walls were once pristine white overlooking well-kept dirt paths and flower beds. Its streets, once a focal point of commerce with the animals of Mobius, are now the domain of zombie-like roboticized citizens some have dubbed 'robians'. It all rests under the power of one twisted cybernetic Madman known As Robotnik, or simply known as "The EggMan"

His dark domain, known as Robotropolis, is but a fraction of the beautiful planet. It is a sore spot, however, from which it may never recover. If left unchecked, Dr. Eggman intends to rule it all, and bring his metal order to everything. No life, no resistance, only obedient drones.

While groups of Mobians all over the world have formed pockets of resistance, it is in Knothole village, where the most prominent Freedom Fighter lives. It is not only the closest freedom fighter faction to Robotropolis - it is also home to the greatest of all their heroes - Sonic the Hedgehog. The Blue blur resides there in the Great Forest with his fellow freedom Fighters, and while he tends to be a loner, the others are vital support for him.

Rotor - While a nerdy handyman at times, has a laid back personality quite contrairy to Sonic's Own.

Bunny Rabbot - While she escaped the roboticizer, she was left with an arm and both her legs made metal. While this gives her physical superiority, her sweet as candy southern charms make her a calming influence when things get rough.

Antoine - We're not sure what good he is. Quite frankly he's a bumbling idiot I'd rather leave to the roboticizer. He's a coward, and he's clumsy... and those are his good parts. Well, he does occasionally prove useful. We'll call him comic relief.

Princess Sally - Cool, levelheaded thinker. She has a computer sidekick named Nichole, always packed with sage advice. She's the brains of the outfit, though her personal life suffers from Leadership's harder choices.

Miles Prower - Known as Tails, this two tailed fox is Sonic's best friend and sidekick. He hangs around Sonic more than most of the population ever will, and is as a little brother to Sonic. Tails has proven to be a great inventor and mechanic, much like Rotor, but his ability to enjoy life remains that of a child. His belief that anything is possible keeps him from seeing sonic as anything but a Hero. As an aside note, he is afraid of lightning.

There are others worth mentioning, such as Sally's family which has been reunited, King Maxamillion Acorn, Queen Alicia, and Prince Elias. Friends of the Royal family like Nate Morgan have also surfaced, as well as new allies such as Mina the Mongoose and Amy Rose, Sonic's number one fan. On the Floating Island, Knuckles the Echidna has also found his family, his father, mother, and a whole city of his kind that til now he'd no idea existed. Along with that came enemies, and more allies starting with the "Chaotix", starring the hot-headed Vector the Crocodile, Mighty the Armadillo, Espio the Chameleon, retired Charmy Bee, and more recently, a girl echidna named Julie-Su. Rouge the Bat has added a new dimension to the Floating Island as Mina to the Knothole order. No matter who they are or where they come from, they are all vital to the cause of overthrowing Robotnik and restoring order.

* * *

Today Sonic runs through the city known as Station Square. Not too long ago, he'd become a hero to them. The humans of Mobius weren't so bad it seemed, as long as you didn't consider Dr. Eggman human, quite easy for Sonic's mind.

"Hey Sonic!" came the voice of young Miles Prower. He was bright eyed and cheery as ever, flying in the Turbo Tails 2. His biplane had been overhauled yet again, sporting a chaos emerald on its nose.

"Tails!" Sonic called back, jumping rooftop to rooftop with ease. Nothing ever seemed to slow him down and finally he was standing on his usual spot on the tail of the biplane. Why Tails never bothered to engineer a second seat was beyond anyone's guess, except that Sonic didn't care much for safety belts. "Revamping the Turbo Tails again?"

"Yep!"

"Tails, Tails, Tails... You don't need to do anything to it! It's already charged by Chaos Emerald."

"I know! But now I have these really cool rocket boosters!"

"Huh?" Sonic didn't expect an answer, and instead, held on as Tails hit a sequence of buttons changing the biplane into a V winged jet plane. "A lil warning next time buddy.."

"I'm all right Sonic!" It was to be expected anyway. Sonic saw the ground leaving them and altitude gaining steadily. Where were they headed anyway?

"Just where are we headed Tails?" Is there an echo in here?

"The floating Island!"

"The floating island? What for?" Sonic blinked and gazed at the floating hunk of dirt in the distance. "Angel Island isn't falling again... Tails... you know Knux hates visitors."

"Yeah I know Sonic, but Sonic... Dulcy told me that something strange was going on here. She said she saw all kinds of Eggman shaped robots fly to the island... you know what that means.."

"Yeah, we better be prepared for whatever lies Eggman feeds Knuckles. Poor sap buys 'em every time too. And the worst part is, there's no in-flight movie!"

Sonic's eyes fixed on the diamond shape approaching rapidly. It was all too familiar to him, the lush greenery cascading over the island, the lakes, pools, and falls from endless sources... the mountains... And the fire.


	2. Partings and Meetings

**The Age of Emeralds**

**Chapter 2**

**Partings and Meetings**

Flocks of birds scattered from the island's treetops followed sometimes by white laser blasts fired from below. The Egg drones flew out of the dense foliage, causing as much havoc as possible. The bird's cries were deafening, and Sonic's emerald eyes narrowed as a few fell to the ground.

The fires had grown worse as well, and from their vantage point in the air, it was hard to tell what had happened to the land animals below. One thing was for certain in any event, the destructive forces would have to be nullified, and fast!

"Tails!"

"I'm on it Sonic!" the boy hit another series of buttons, the jet plane converting to his now legendary robotic armor. Sonic was just amazed... maybe it was a good thing that he played with legos and transformers as a young child after all.

No sooner had the blue metallic armor touched ground that Sonic leapt off. "You see about putting this blaze out, I'm gonna' go stop those eggheads!" The Pair of heroes parted ways, leaving to achieve their goals.

As was expected, they were being watched, and both the fox and the speedy hedgehog could feel it. They were being watched... Watched from the shadows by a pair of eyes. Who they belonged to was shrouded by the dark undergrowth, finally looking away as another tree caught ablaze.

* * *

Elsewhere, presumably on the Floating Island, three echidnas were discussing the current disaster. For a supposedly wiped-out race, the echidnas sure had a way of making a comeback.

One of the echidnas was Tikal, an orange echidna spirit from times long past. She was simply clad in a headband and skirt with a simple V weave to it, brightly colored. She was with her aquatic guardian - the walking jello jiggler with a brain, Chaos.

A male echidna in the group was black as night. He was only highlighted by the white crest on his chest, and the armaments he carried. he seemed to be a warrior type, sporting a technological targeting eyepiece in his headgear.

The Third member of the Echidna tea party, was a white echidna with soft features. Like Tikal, she was dressed modestly in naught but a skirt and headband. She carried with her a staff however, which appeared to contain a chaos emerald on its tip.

"So the time has come?" the white one directed to Tikal.

"Protector Crystal Ka, we cannot stop the Emeralds from changing. Chaos won't be set upon the planet again, but if you don't see to it that the right hands hold the Emeralds, the world will be destroyed."

The white echidna nodded gravely, "And what of our Guardian? Have those at Haven told him what he needs to know?"

"Knuckles is ignorant." The black one interjected.

"Then we must enlighten him, and we haven't much time." The white one struck a mused pose. "You'll have to break into Haven, Dirk." her silver-blue eyes cast on the black echidna.

"I'm sorry I can't help you more..." Tikal dematerialized into a glowing sphere of light which faded into the girl's staff, followed in a liquid stream by Chaos.

"It's all right Tikal, no one's to blame." She glanced for the exit to the golden crystal chamber, "The Age of Emeralds is about to begin."


	3. Close Encounters of the Blurred Kind

**The Age of Emeralds**

**Chapter 3**

**Close Encounters of the Blurred Kind**

"Well, at least I can test my new Elemental circuits!" Tails applauded himself on his brilliance. The orange fox hit a series of keystrokes again on his control panel. Again, the mechanized armor responded with a few whirrs and creaks as a new mechanism fell into place. This one was not quite so obvious however.

With a satisfied smile, he gripped the controls to the Vulcan cannon and fired off a series of shots. Each one had the familiar resounding boom, but a slightly altered effect - The fire on the intended target solidified into an icy branch. "All right!" The smile was well earned. It would only take him a matter of minutes to beat down the forest fire at this rate.

Of course, nothing is ever that easy, and tails found himself quickly surrounded by a group of eggbots. "Hey no fair!" Tails shook his head, sighing. Confidence was one of his strong points nowadays, so a smile drew to his face. "Sonic only told me to take out the fire, but you guys don't know what you're up against!"

**"Surrender in the name of Dr. Eggman. Prepare to be roboticized"** All the drones rang through the same monotonous speech the young one had heard enough times in his life.

"Give it your best! You eggheads don't scare me!" Maybe this was pushing confidence too far. the boy gripped the controls to the Vulcan again, the targeting laser easily acquiring half the sphere before firing in sequence.

**"Prepare to-"** ZAP... With an electric shudder, the machine turned an icy blue tint and collapsed in on itself. **"Be-"** ZRRRT Another one ended up on the ground. **"-Robo--"!** KRACKKK Static sparked the air. An apparently intelligent E-200 series robot started to flee only to befall the fate of his friends- tzzzt **"Error! Error! Temperatures acceding safe lev...elzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."**

The rest of the now half-circle all fired their energy weapons at the machine ridding fox. **"Error! Error!"** Their sensors all recalculated what was happening maybe a hundred times in their mechanic minds... The shots had either blasted back in their faces, or made no impact. The fox was fine... the hint at what happen lay as the laser shot suddenly fanned out into a spherical shape. Tails had a shielding device! It flashed, hot-white with energy, though it was not complete.

Through their travels, Sonic and Tails had both found talisman stones that gave them, until physically hit at least, shielding they called 'biospheres' This one's property was water, even better for the boy. Yet, the protection was not complete, the heels of his Turbo Tails out of the sphere's range.

"Aww! you guys are really something, can't even catch one little fox?" he squinted an eye, gazing through the targeting device, shooting another series of bots. "Well, better catch me if you can!" He smirked and took off running. The jets on the machine flared, and he was off. It wasn't quite like the rush of running to keep pace with Sonic, but it was all his design, a job well done, and it gave him great satisfaction none the less.

* * *

Meanwhile, we find our Heroic hedgehog, standing firmly on a Branch, giving his own coy grin to the foes. He waited there, almost boredly, as a group of four surrounded him. "Maaan, I thought this would be more of a challenge, when will you guys learn?"

All four fired at once, a puff of smoke clouding the area as the branch clearly snapped and fell to the ground. A fire started where the hedgehog... HAD been, but was not to be seen. E-206 looked around confused, trying to re-aquire his target, until his associate bots all turned, aiming their guns his way.

"HEllooooooooo!" Sonic stood on the bot's head and leaned over, razzing the bot. The bot's reaction was some surprise, and its arms flailed to rid itself of the hedgehog before it was too late. Too late... (insert anime sweat drop here. )

From the air, Sonic then curled into a familiar ball and launched a homing attack at the one. On his way down he caught a branch and flipped himself back up, spinning around to see what was up.

**"Intruder Identified. Sonic the Hedgehog you will -"** THWACK. A stone beaned it in the head causing it to spark.

"Huh? Who did that? Who's here!" Sonic blinked and took a quick look around - it wasn't him.

**"You will be terminated."** Hesitation was never a good thing, and the last E-200 fired at the unwary hedgehog. Though it didn't hit its target, it did off-balance him a moment.

"Buddy... you made a BIG mistake!" he launched another homing attack, and that neatly finished off the bots in the area. Hanging onto one of the tree branches, Sonic darted his vision about to see who threw that stone... The only sight before him was the placid floating island, and behind him, the dying fire. Well, there was a bird flying overhead, but how seriously can you take one flickie bird? "Well, guess I'd better go find Tails then, this area's all clear"...

If Sonic had been a little bit more alert, maybe he would have seen the bushes rustle behind him. Maybe he would have noticed how that bird was seemingly the only animal in the area. Maybe he would have been pierced by those mysterious eyes. But for now.. he just went to find his friend. Oh how "The Big Picture" escaped his mile-a-second mind.


	4. Of Echidnas and Eggmen

**The Age of Emeralds**

**Chapter 3  
Of Echidnas and Eggmen**

"No, Grandfather Spectre, I don't think we should interfere. It seems to be... well taken care of." Locke had his eyes watchfully placed on monitors following both Tails and, for what good it did, Sonic. He stroked his beard mildly, the only thing that separated him and his son, save for an inch or two of height. He was the youngest one in Haven, but perhaps he had the most to think about. After all, his son had been gaining extraordinary powers at an exponential rate that was... something of his plan.

"If you call that 'taken care of'." Thunderhawk smirked humorlessly. "Our homeland is besieged, and yet we do nothing?" Thunderhawk was an older guardian, set apart for his purple coat of fur.

"Knuckles will handle his end, as Sonic and Tails wrap up theirs." Spectre said confidently. "I believe Locke is right this time." Spectre wasn't the oldest, but he was the most mysterious. He was solitary, even for an echidna, dressed in concealing robes and a sort of helmet that hid part of his face. One tended to wonder how time had ravaged his body, but also how he seemed to come and go on a whim of smoke. Perhaps his fire ant companion had taught him more than he needed?

"So where does that leave us?" the purple one leaned back in his chair, half mused by the situation.

"Sitting here on our rear ends, is what." Locke almost scoffed. Not that he cared for fighting, but where his son was concerned, he wanted to help him on his feet in spite of anything else he'd say. He glanced longingly at the monitor showing his son, dealing with his own problems yet again, no father to hold his hand and guide him. But Julie-su was there, if that was anything of a comfort to him. "Don't even say anything Grandfathers, It'll be all right without us here, count on it."

Spectre couldn't help himself from laughing. "You mean don't worry about Sonic and Tails. It's your son that's the problem hmm?" he rocked back and forth on his feet, grinning smugly, concealed by his helm. "Well, you're half right. I don't think we'll play any key role in the island's safety, but your son... he is... growing up, and fast. Maybe too fast. That Chaos induced power can't be worth it, now that he's past your dreams of death, young cub."

About to retort, Locke was cut off by a sound of alarms flashing the place. "So much for sitting on our rears." Thunderhawk quickly went to the monitors, flicking through security channels, finding nothing. "It's an intruder but..."

"You can't find him, I know." Spectre disappeared to who knows where.

Locke gave him only a glance, in time to see the last mists of his presence fade, then back to his monitors. "He should trust the technology a little more..."

"Exactly what our ancestors feared Locke. Need I remind you of our history? I can't blame him in this case. We're going to have to do a manual search."

"Why do you say that? It looks like just a false alarm"

"Just this" the gloved hand pointed to a monitor, displaying a door of Haven that had been forced open. It had been half melted, half pried apart, otherwise there seemed to be no further damage.

"I'll head to the core, you search the main corridors." the two echidnas nodded and parted ways, the younger one heading further into the conch-shell designed hall leading to the place's core.

"You know, you'd have an easier time finding an intruder if you just... looked behind you." A voice came suddenly from behind Locke, nearly slipping him out of his skin. He twisted around as fast as he could without snapping a bone. His eyes fixed quickly on the source of the voice, a young male echidna with black fur. He knew him...

"Onyx? What are you doing here? You know you're not allowed in haven!"

"That's Dirk now. What are you doing here in haven?" he smiled softly, keeping a hand loosely on the stun gun at his side. "Your son's out there alone, and confused, and you're here what? Baby-sitting a set of TVs that don't show you what's going on now? You guys have lost it."

"So you're the intruder? You... You and your sister are not welcome here Dir-"

The boy waved him off dismissively. "Never mind your quibbles Locke. You always did talk my ear off. I'd rather speak with Spectre or Saber, but it's about your son..."

Darting to the edge of the dead fire, the blue blur skidded onto a few smoldering trees, and scanned for his bud. It was a shame really, the Sandopolis Zone already laid claim to a third of Angel Island, no need to add to it. He hoped the damage would be repairable, this floating mass was vital to the ecosystem, even if it was no longer a part of the topsoil. At first he didn't see anything but a half-dried river.

From the water, a bubble started to emerge. Sonic whisked around with a startled cry as the water abruptly parted. "WA-Hooo!" was yelled from the biplane's cockpit as Tails sprang from the scene protected by his bubble shield. The Fox left the mech's cockpit, and after a great leap, struck a pose while laughing and yelling "YATTA!"

"Nice entrance Tails." It was half a compliment, said dryly, as he shook water off himself quickly.

"The forest's all clear now! The animals can come back any time Sonic."

Sonic nodded and glanced back at the sky, the flickie off in the distance, the ruin, and back. "Yeah for now. But that still doesn't answer what's on my mind."

"Huh?"

"Where's Knucklehead and what's Robotnik up to this time?"

"Me surrender? No way! You're the intruder! I'm not buying your lies this time!" Knuckles glared at the rotund one who'd invaded his homeland, with a few of his follower bots behind him. In a similar way, the red echidna was backed by his friends - Charmy, Vector, Mighty, Espio, and Julie-su.

"You're only going to make things more difficult on yourself, guardian. As we speak, there are intruders on this island up to no good." Robotnik stroked his mustache, his eyes concealed behind his highly reflective glasses. If you looked through his rotten little mind, you'd see labels on Knuckles and his friends, Suckers, saps, fools... the list goes on.

"You're the only intruder I see big-shot!" Vector barked at Robotnik. The crocodile was quite the hothead. In an amazing twist of fate, he seemed to have very sharp hearing for one who always had music blaring through a walkman directly into his ears 24/7.

"I'd hold him back if I were you knuckles."

"And why should I egg-head?" Knuckles was ready to tear the fat man apart too - after all, he'd been tricked one too many times by the wicked man.

"Well... if you don't want your precious little Island destroyed, you'd do best to heed me boy."

"Don't trust him Knuckles!" Julie-su had her gun close by and she could always smell a rat. The pink echidna with purple tipped bangs, was smart as she was pretty. She was like a piece of Knuckles that wasn't there unless she was around, they needed each other, they just had no clue how much... yet.

"What about the island?" Knuckles may have hated Eggman's guts, but whenever indications were made of the Island in trouble, his curiosity set in.

"Oh? So now you're interested are you? Fine then!" Before them all, appeared a hologram of the Chaos chamber, only with a difference, the seven emeralds were pulsating with a great light, the Master Emerald cracked in the center.

"What!" Knuckles gazed in disbelief, "This is just ...a trick!"

"Trick eh? Watch closely Knuckles... You might learn something."

Before them, a brilliant light beamed from the crack, rising to a blinding peak before dying away. In its place, a pile of green shards rested where the Master Emerald once had. Knuckles cringed at the prospect of recollecting the emerald shards again - once was enough, when Station Square was threatened and twice was too many. As for the other 7 Emeralds...

"They're gone!" Knuckles stared in awe. "What kind of trick is this Eggman!" he growled.

"There's no way the Master Emerald can just... crack like that!" Julie su and Vector said at the same time. When it came to protecting Knuckles and the Floating Island, Vector and Julie were far more alike than they'd care to admit.

"It's no trick Knuckles..." a sly grin was hidden behind the man's unnatural mustache. "By my calculations, when the emerald cracks, the resulting explosion will not simply drop the island like a stone... The force of the blast will propel this floating piece of real-estate crashing into Mobius below. The Result...? Well, I wouldn't want to be around when it happens." The evil Doctor said in even tones, almost smiling with glee as he delivered the final sentence on the island. He could lie with the best of them, but to a certain extent he was right. To that extent, Knuckles wouldn't want to chance the island's safety.

"I'll handle this Dr. Eggman. Your services aren't needed here." He said in a low sort of growl.

"What!" Eggman's pleasure that Knux had bought it was overcast with his disapproval of the lardo... Usually he got to stick around for the fireworks. "But I can help you Knuckles... You need me to-"

"Can it Fatso." Knux waved him off, staring him down. For such a short race, they were exceedingly intimidating. "I have all the help I need. If there's a threat to the island, I'll take care of it. It's not _Your_ responsibility or concern. Vec, Mind showing tin grin off the Island?"

"Gladly!" the croc' cracked a feral grin.

"Knuckles! Think about what you're saying... my technology could--"

"What's the matter Metal head? Got cotton stuffed in your knobby little ears?" Vec was more than happy to act as bouncer, and being very tall as Mobian animals went, came across even more frightening than his little red buddy. "All we've seen you demonstrate is what a lying cheatin' scumbucket you are. We got no reason to trust you so better come quietly or else."

"Fine..." Eggman could sense that his welcome had worn thin. He would leave all right... but as soon as that croc's back was turned, watch out.

"Thanks Vec." Knuckles smiled and eased up a bit.

"You can't honestly trust him!" Julie su stared at the red Echidna soon as Eggman was out of earshot. "You're our Guardian, you would have known if something was wrong right?"

"I know Julie... But now that I think of it, something is strange. I don't know what, but the Emeralds... It's probably just Eggman's presence..."

"You're probably right. Well, if Eggman's here, then Sonic can't be far behind. Gonna' go roll out the welcome mat?"

Knuckles smirked slightly and glanced the area over a moment. "No. I think I'm going to see what kinda damage Eggman's caused getting here first... Then we'll deal with sonic." That seemed a good idea to everyone, Julie and the Chaotix alike.


End file.
